Up on the Housetop
by Tensleep
Summary: Darry remembers an interesting Christmas. Written for the WSOTT December '07 Rumble.


Disclaimer: I own nothing

Up on the Housetop

"What do you mean Santa's not real?"

I glanced up from the homework I was doing over to where Mom was standing looking sad. Ponyboy was looking up at her defiantly, his arms crossed over his chest. I raised an eyebrow at that. He was the good one, for the most part. Sweet, quiet and he liked to help Mom with anything she could think of. But tonight he was giving her a run for her money.

"Santa is not real," Pony repeated, looking mad.

"Who told you that?" Mom asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Everybody!" He yelped and Mom blinked. "Not even one of the kids in my grade still believes in Santa."

"They're all a year older than you – "

"They called me a baby for still believing in Santa. I'm ten, Mom, and I almost got into a fight over a man who isn't real!"

I had to admit that at ten I didn't believe in Santa anymore, but this was Ponyboy. Mom, Dad, Sodapop, and I worked hard to make sure he still believed in stuff like that. It had nothing to do with being a baby – it was more so we felt useful. Mom and Dad had tried to do the same with Sodapop and me, but I faced facts around my seventh birthday and Sodapop was far too curious for his own good around the age of eight. We'd lost the magic early on. I was sad to see Ponyboy losing the magic, too.

"Pony – " Mom tried again but he was shaking his head and staring at the floor.

"Santa's not real and I don't want to make cookies just so we can all pretend," he told her before stepping around her and starting off down the hall.

Mom glanced over at me and I offered her a sympathetic look.

"My baby's growing up," she stated.

I felt like sighing then. You want to know what started this little scene? Mom had asked Ponyboy if he wanted to help her make some Christmas cookies. They made them every year just for Santa. But this year there was no Santa and that meant there wouldn't be any cookies. I frowned. I really liked those Christmas cookies and I was almost tempted to tell Mom I still believed if it got the cookies baked. What mostly got me, though, was how Mom looked just a little sad. Ponyboy was growing up and they seemed to do less and less together since he was desperate that no one considered him a baby. There was no way we could keep Ponyboy believing in Santa Claus forever, but maybe we needed this Christmas so we could be prepared for next year and Mom wouldn't be so sad.

I glanced down at my Trigonometry homework and decided that now was as good a time as any to take a break. So I stood and stretched before making my way down the hall. There was a sign hanging off Soda and Pony's bedroom door that advertised it was "The Fox Den". They were really into comics lately – particularly Batman and his bat cave. So they were having meetings in there with Two-Bit, Steve, and Johnny that were top secret, even if you were their big brother who lived right across the hall. I usually just smiled and was happy they were out of my hair, but sometimes being the oldest and being excluded was harder than it looked. As a show of good faith, I didn't bother telling them that Foxes had holes, not dens. I was surprised Ponyboy hadn't pointed that fact out, but he hadn't and the sign remained.

"Who's there?" Soda asked as soon as I knocked on the door.

"Me," I replied.

"Me who?"

"Sodapop," I warned and he opened the door, looking up at me like I was one of our parents in disguise.

"Oh, hi Darry. What can I do for you?" he asked, opening the door more, so he wasn't squinting to look through it.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

"About what?"

"Ponyboy," I replied.

"Sure. It's a good thing that he's not in here then."

I followed Sodapop into their room and sat down on Pony's bed so we could talk. He sat down as well and gave me an inviting nod.

"Ponyboy doesn't believe in Santa this year," I told him and he nodded.

"I know. He told me," he replied. "He seemed upset."

"Well, what's got me worried is Mom is upset. They're not making cookies this year."

Soda gaped at me and shook his head. "That's just mean."

"Do you think the Musketeers can do anything?" I asked and Soda smirked.

Two-Bit, Steve, and Sodapop were pretty much inseparable. I figured they'd grow apart once they discovered girls, but for now they were the Musketeers - three best friends who generally managed to cause more mischief than anything, but they all cared about Ponyboy and Two-Bit practically lived off Mom's cookies when he came around during Christmas.

"We'll think up something," Soda assured me and I nodded before leaving the room.

It was a week later on Christmas Eve when I started to wonder what Sodapop had in mind. I had convinced Mom to let me help her make the cookies, but there was still Ponyboy who was determined that since there was no Santa, there shouldn't be a Christmas.

Mom and Dad were clearly not happy, but they were ignoring the behavior for right now. We settled down in the living room with the radio playing the Christmas music. It was barely ten when Sodapop sent me a sly smile and faked a long yawn.

"Man, I'm tired. Better get to sleep so Santa will come."

"You're wasting your time," Ponyboy told him and Soda shrugged.

"Maybe so, but if there is a Santa Claus, I'm getting on his good side. C'mon, Pone. Let's get some sleep."

Pony got up with a sigh, but still went over and hugged Mom good night and then wished Dad a merry Christmas before disappearing down the hall.

"What do you think Sodapop is up to?" Dad asked over the top of the paper.

"He's Soda," I offered. "They're probably waiting for us to go to bed so they can lay out Santa traps."

Dad smirked. He and I used to do the same thing when I was small. We always seemed to fall sleep before he got there, though. Now that I was older, there was no denying that Mom and Dad were the ones who made sure we each had a present on Christmas morning. With our budget, it was easier to believe in Santa.

"Well, let's not spoil their fun," Mom suggested, tucking her sewing away. "Merry Christmas, sweetheart"

"Merry Christmas, Mom," I replied, giving her a hug.

"Get to bed, Junior. Santa'll be here soon," Dad said with a smirk and I smirked back before heading down the hall to bed.

It was maybe a couple hours later when I heard the first thump. I sat up, looking around the room and wondering where it was coming from. I listened again and nearly forgot to breathe when I heard a distinct thump on the roof. It was not Santa. It couldn't be. I was out of bed a moment later and leaning out the window, craning to see anything on the roof. I barely ducked my head back in the window as a clump of snow fell from the roof and hit the bushes below.

There was someone on the roof. I was less inclined to believe it was Santa and more inclined to believe someone was playing a bad prank. So I threw on some sweats and a sweater from the closet before grabbing my baseball bat and making my way out into the hallway.

"Darry?" Pony asked sleepily from his doorway. "What's going on?"

"There's someone on the roof."

"Santa?" Pony asked sleepily and I nodded.

"Sure, but he's going to leave if he knows you're awake. Go back to bed."

Pony nodded and yawned widely before disappearing back into his room.

I sighed and tightened my fingers on the bat, moving down the hall. I paused at the back door to slip my shoes on and made my way into the backyard so I could see who was up there. I was surprised there weren't more thumps because it looked like at least three figures on the roof.

"Hey!" I called, catching the attention of the figures on the roof. "What the hell are you doing up there?"

"Darry!"

"Soda?" I asked, absolutely confused now.

"Yeah. Can you get the ladder?" he called and I frowned.

"What are you doing on the roof?"

"Well, that's an interesting story," Two-Bit's voice came from the roof.

I groaned. Two-Bit's stories were always interesting and rarely true.

"See, Sodie here told us we needed to play Santa so the kid would believe," he continued. "Then Stevie here suggested we stomp on the roof."

"That was your idea!" Steve snapped and Two-Bit seemed to ignore him.

"So we got up there and stomped around," he concluded.

"Well, he heard you. You can come down now before you wake Mom and Dad," I informed them.

"Well, there's the problem…" Two-Bit trailed off.

"What do you mean?" I asked, knowing I wasn't going to like the answer.

"Well, we can't get down," Soda answered.

"How'd you even get up there?"

"We climbed," Steve replied. "But Two-Bit slipped and ripped the down spout clean off."

"We caught him," Soda assured me. "But with the spout down, we can't climb."

"Great," I muttered. "Stay there and I'll see what I can do."

"Where does he think we'd go?" Steve muttered and Two-Bit chuckled.

I sighed and went into the house, making my way down the hall to my parents' room. They were both asleep and I wasn't sure about waking them, but I didn't know what to do. So I nudged Dad's shoulder in the dark and he turned over, blinking at me.

"Can you get dressed and come help me with something?" I whispered. "It's important."

Dad nodded. "Do I need to wake your mother?"

"Not yet."

That got Dad moving and he joined me in the hall a minute later. I waved him out back with me and closed the door behind us.

"What's going on?" Dad asked.

"Soda's stuck on the roof."

"What?" Dad asked, darting into the yard so he could look for himself. "Sodapop! What are you…Is that Keith and Steve with you?"

"Hi Dad," Soda offered with a wave.

"Hey, Mr. C!" Two-Bit chimed in.

"How'd they get up there?" Dad asked, smiling a little.

"They climbed up the down spout," I replied.

"Wow. That's really something." Dad smiled brighter and I shook my head.

Dad and Sodapop were a lot alike. They both seemed to think that this was amusing, too. Mom was whom I should have woken up. She would have yelled herself hoarse at Sodapop by now.

"Dad, how are we going to get them down?" I asked and Dad sighed.

"I think this is a good time to wake you mother."

A few minutes later, Mom was standing in the snow with us, her housecoat pulled around her. She was gaping up at the scene on the roof and the three elves on the roof didn't have anything to say now.

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis! You get down here this moment!" She yelled.

"They're stuck up there, Ellie," Dad explained.

"Why were they even up there in the first place?" She asked.

"Well, that's an interesting story…" Two-Bit started.

"Be quiet, Keith," she shushed him. "Go get the ladder, Darry."

"A ladder!" Two-Bit groaned hitting his forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?"

I trudged to the shed and pulled out the ladder. It wasn't nearly tall enough and Mom sighed when she got a look at it.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have to call the fire department," she sighed. "All three of you sit still and we'll have you down in a bit. No horsing around or you will all be in trouble."

"Yes ma'am," all three chorused back. Mom headed into the house while Dad and I stood out in the yard to keep an eye on things.

Half an hour later, a fire truck pulled up with its lights off and its siren quiet. I recognized Mr. Johnston and wasn't surprised. Mom and his wife were good friends, so she probably called him directly. Ten minutes after that, the four firemen were drinking hot chocolate in the dining room while Two-Bit, Steve, and Sodapop were ordered to sit around the kitchen table. All three of them were curled around warm mugs and buried under a quilt.

Mom had given all three of them disapproving looks while Dad had smiled from behind his coffee mug. I leaned against the kitchen counter and hoped things would hurry along so I could get back to bed. Ponyboy was still asleep, which wasn't surprising when you considered he could probably sleep through a tornado in his room.

"Alright, you three. You are never to go near that roof again, understood?" Mom asked and all three bobbed their heads solemnly. "Now, finish your drinks. Bob said he would take you two home where you belong. Your mothers must be in a panic by now."

"You think they'll let us run the siren?" Two-Bit asked Steve who shook his head.

"They didn't even ring it when we were in trouble," he replied.

"Yeah, but I bet I can charm them into letting me give it a whirl," Two-Bit replied and they both disappeared out of the kitchen and a moment later it was back to just the family.

"Let's get to bed. Tomorrow's Christmas," Dad suggested and Mom threw Sodapop another disappointed look before nodding.

The next morning, Ponyboy had been the same excited kid he always had been. He'd smiled and told us all Santa was really real. It was the best Christmas gift we could have hoped to give Mom, even with the events of the night before. And to think the whole thing started over our cookie tradition.

This year is our first Christmas since the accident. Ponyboy doesn't want to make cookies because Mom isn't here. All three of us are hurting, but I can't agree with Pony that there shouldn't be a Christmas without them. Mom and Dad wouldn't want that. So this year, I made the cookies on my own and wished that a few thumps on the roof could fix everything this time.

"Merry Christmas," I whisper to the empty kitchen.

And hopefully, one day it would be again.

Any comments at all are welcome and flames accepted.

See ya in the funny papers!!!

Tens and Zickachik


End file.
